Tricks of the trade - in Scottish Football !

I expected to see some brutal tackles, awful pitches and awful football in the Scottish league.

I was right.

But this is a nice little trick too, so there are exceptions to the rule.

Geezer of the Day?

Not sure we can call Ian Wallace a Geezer, but the look of disgust in his face surely proves that he can see his reflection in the camera lens.

Not sure if it's the hair or the kit, or the clash, but fair play to the Scottish star for putting up with it. His 58 goals in 130 games for Coventry earned him a move to double-defending European Champions Nottingham Forest in 1980, where he would become their top scorer for the next two years.

Gordon Strachan tells it like it is

He's been dealt a tough hand in life (I'll let you make an assumptions you want!), but Gordon Strachan is a quick-witted, funny and brutally honest man.

He admitted that Scotland's 3-2 defeat to England was "a huge opportunity missed," and that they could have been heroes in 40 years time had they won.

It reminded me of a quote of his back when he was with Southampton...

Reporter: Bang, there goes your unbeaten run. Can you take it?

Strachan: No, I’m just going to crumble like a wreck. I’ll go home, become an alcoholic and maybe jump of a bridge. Umm, I think I can take it, yeah.


Ask a stupid question, Gordon will make you feel stupid. Wish there were more like him.

Great timing for England v Scotland

If Andy Murray wins he's British, if he loses, he's Scottish. There is no doubt who the Wimbledon champion will be supporting tonight. It's England v Scotland at Wembley - the 111th meeting of the teams, but the first for 14 years.

It's a great time for the game, just 3 days before the Premier League season starts - the Scottish league started with Celtic being awarded the title by default.

It's the oldest international football match, and was played every year from 1872-1989 (as long as you don't mention the wars!).

Scotland aren't much of a team at the moment, and England are rarely much of a team come tournament time. However, the hosts are pretty good in friendlies, and will hope to benefit from some quality goalkeeping as seen in the Under-21s game last night.